How does your heart’s connection to your brain influence how you feel? How is this connection organized and where in the brain do bodily signals arrive and shape your emotions and cognition? The Dynamic Embodied Brain Laboratory (DEB Lab) at the International Center for Primate Brain Research (ICPBR) aims to answer these questions. To do so, the DEB Lab is hiring research assistants (RA) to assist in neurosurgeries and conduct neuro-histological and microscopy analyses of non-human primate brain’s mesoscopic organization, with a focus on body-brain connections.  

The DEB Lab examines the connections between the body and the brain, including with the insular cortex and the von Economo neuron, with great implications how bodily signals (e.g., heartbeat) shape emotion and cognition, self-awareness and mental disorders (e.g., dementia). The RA will assist in neurosurgery in the macaque monkey, take over the organization of the histology lab (Nissl stain, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization), 2D to 3D reconstruction of brain pathways, participate to single cell RNA extraction (Patch-Seq), and connect with the local genomics and Stereo-Seq platforms. The RA will learn state-of-the-art primate neuroanatomy in connection with the development of primate brain atlases (e.g., Paxinos, Petrides & Evrard, 2024, Rhesus Monkey Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates, 4^th Ed.), neuro-electrophysiology, and neuroimaging (fMRI) studies. The RA will also benefit from active international collaborations of the lab, which has activities in 4 distinct research centers worldwide (Shanghai, Leuven, Tubingen, New York). These and other connections with local (e.g., ION, Lingan, Jiatong, Fudan, Shenzhen) and international (Allen Inst., NIH, Princeton…) labs will enable the RA to continuously explore novel mesoscopic brain mapping projects and methods.  

The candidates must have a bachelor/master’s in biology/medicine/neuroscience or related. The candidates must be fluent in English, hardworking, highly motivated, curious, interested in the organization of the brain and in mesoscopic brain mapping methods. Prior experience in histology is a plus.

To get more information and/or to apply, please contact Dr. Henry Evrard (henry.evrard@icpbr.ac.cn) or the DEB Lab manager, Ms. Qian Liang (qian.liang@icpbr.ac.cn).